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In a decisive move by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Terry A. Bork, the long-standing Watts recycling facility, Atlas Iron and Metal Corp., was brought to an end with a commanding court order to shut down its operations and pay $2 million in fines and restitution after pleading no contest to five felony counts of illegal hazardous waste disposal, a verdict that punctuates the company’s history of environmental negligence in a community that has been at risk for too long. According to an announcement from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, Atlas Iron and Metal admitted its culpability, and in addition to the closure and financial penalties, must also complete cleanup and remediation at their site, relinquish development rights, and further grant the LA Unified School District (LAUSD) and the City of Los Angeles the right of refusal should the property go to market, the owners Gary Weisenberg and Matthew Weisenberg, were also sentenced, accepting no contest pleas to lesser charges and receiving a combination of probation and community service as part of their sentence. Atlas has been a fixture in the Watts community since 1949, dealing with scrap metal and electronic waste; egregious levels of lead and zinc were uncovered during soil testing at Jordan High School while the Atlas site itself housed alarmingly excessive concentrations of seven metals, the gravity of this situation was brought to stark light when on the first day of classes in August 2024, a fiery explosion erupted at the facility, thankfully leaving no one injured yet signalling the profound danger the site posed. "This sentencing delivers long-overdue justice to a community that has lived in the shadow of this dangerous facility for generations," District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman emphasized, lauding the collective work of the Deputy District Attorneys Daniel Wright and Cynthia Valenzuela of the Environmental Crimes Division, the Bureau of Investigation, the Los Angeles County Fire Department's Health Hazardous Materials Division, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, and LAUSD for their indefatigable dedication to security and justice which has resulted not merely in the penalization of the company but in ensuring a safer and healthier environment for the residents and most crucially, the children of Watts. The court's detailed plan for Atlas dictates the $2 million payments to be distributed with $1 million ear-marked for the LAUSD for restitution, $850,000 to be divided amongst various departments and organizations with a focus on supporting community initiatives that improve public health in Watts, and the remaining $150,000 is slated for fines and penalties; the ordered measures underscore a significant stride toward amends and prevention, fitting within a broader civic mission fiercely protective of the vulnerable in society.
